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2011-05-26

Google Wallet: pay with your Android phone (a summary)

Google Wallet is a new product that enables you to pay with your Android cell phone.

The steps for paying at a merchant, as outlined by Google, are: Find one of symbols shown at (1). Tap your phone on the reader (2).

What and how:

Technology: Near Field Communication (NFC) is a technology for exchanging data between devices that are within a few centimeters of each other. For Google Wallet, your phone and a reader device, at the sales point, exchange payment information: To pay, you tap the phone on a reader.

Does Google or my phone store what I buy using Google Wallet, and from where?
Google Wallet does not currently receive data about what products you purchase with it. Google Wallet does record (locally on the phone) the time of an initiated transaction and which credential was used. Google Wallet also gives you the option to turn on a feature to record your location at the time of purchase. [...]

Compatible phones: currently only the Nexus S 4G, with more to come [1].

Google does not charge merchants for using Wallet, but credit card charges apply.